Call centre metrics measure your agents’ performance and help you understand the pulse of your customers. Metrics like AHT give you an idea of how long an agent handles a call, while metrics like CSAT score tell you how satisfied your customers are with your customer support.

Taken together, these metrics will give you an accurate picture of your call centers’ operational efficiency so you can improve any bottlenecks.

Call centres accumulate numerous data points, which can quickly become overwhelming if you try to track and measure all of them. To ensure you don’t drown in the numbers, you should measure only the most important and relevant metrics to your organization. Here are 3 of those essential metrics:

1. CSAT score

The best way to measure customer satisfaction is to ask customers directly. CSAT (customer satisfaction) score is measured using customer surveys that ask questions like On a scale of 1-10, how satisfied are you with [agent’s name]?

Getting an 8 out of 10 rating is good, but you need to probe why the customer didn’t give a 9 or 10. You can ask open-ended questions on what you can do to get a higher score.

To calculate CSAT, use this formula:

CSAT = (Total positive responses / Total response) x 100

2. Average Handle Time (AHT)

AHT is a tricky metric to balance, but finding the right average handle time will help agents provide the best customer service at the fastest possible time. When agents spend too long on a call, it may indicate that they don’t have the skills to resolve the concern.

In contrast, if they finish a call faster than the AHT benchmark, they may be ending calls without resolving all of the customer’s concerns.

To calculate AHT, use this formula:

AHT = (Talk time + Hold time + Wrap-up time) / Total number of calls

3. Cost per call (CPC)

It takes significant financial resources to run a call centre, and CPC will help you identify if your call centre is cost-efficient. A high CPC indicates that either the underlying technology is too expensive or your agents aren’t helping customers fast enough.

The ideal CPC will depend on your company size, the complexity of your buying process, and the nature of your services. However, the best practice is to lower your CPC as much as possible.

To calculate CPC, use this formula:

CPC = Total costs of calls / total number of calls

To get the total costs of calls, add your labour, technology, and general business expenses used to support the call centre.

Canadians are known for their patience and tolerance and will often put up with long call queues. But this isn’t an excuse to provide a lousy service. Measuring the right metrics will help you determine if customers are really satisfied with your service or simply putting up with it.

Just like the Government of Canada’s experience, measuring the right metrics will help you redesign your customer support to meet Canadian call centre standards. You can deliver better service either by reducing call wait times, providing resolutions faster, or lowering the overall call centre costs.

Metrics define if your call centre is successful or not. These numbers will help you improve weak points so you can deliver better service to your customers. The metrics listed here are just at the top of the list. There are several others that you can measure to give you a more comprehensive picture of your call centre performance.

Working with the right call centre provider will help you define and measure the right set of metrics for your business.